Support Glimmerglass

Creating a World Onstage: Details, Details

Posted June 24, 2009byKelley Rourke

Whether this season’s singers are performing their roles for the first time or the fifteenth, they’ve spent a lot of time studying them—before even arriving in Cooperstown. The same goes for the directors and designers, who have been planning the productions of the 2009 Festival Season for over a year. But when you are creating an entire world from scratch, certain needs only become clear once everyone is in the same room. During rehearsals, stage managers circulate notes daily to keep everyone abreast of the latest developments. A few excerpts from this week’s rehearsal notes:

“Please add a horsewhip to be used during the dance in Act III. We are having our first rehearsals of this dance tomorrow. Is it possible to have something to use for this rehearsal? A crop would be fine. Or a stick. Or something.”

“Please add a small amount of real sugar in the sugar canister. It will be spooned into a teacup nightly.”

“We were able to determine that the total number of glassware in act I is 26. Sadly, we were unable to determine how many of these glasses are for wine and how many are for champagne. We’ll try to nail that down for you when we hit the scene again this Thursday.”

“Please ADD two pieces of biscotti. They will not be eaten.”

“The invitations should be made from a medium weight card stock so they stay open when held from the bottom but can also be folded into fours to pocket.”